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Old 2nd November 2011, 08:38   #16
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

I jumped into this thread upon reading the word Patiala; the town from where my father hailed naturally evokes emotions. @WoW, I will be reading your posts with great interest. Please do mention details of halts, accomodations, road conditions, and such important aspects. I liked your posting so far.

Since HVK Sir has already made a comment I do not need to add anything more on that dimension.
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Old 2nd November 2011, 11:37   #17
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

All those supporting WoW's actions, could you please answer my question below? Its just something that would help me understand the situation better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by amitoj View Post
But, would it have been too impractical to turn around (after "taking" the divider), going back and driving through Bharuch town? You would have been able to replenish the essential supplies in the town as well.
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Old 2nd November 2011, 11:40   #18
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

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Originally Posted by amitoj View Post
All those supporting WoW's actions, could you please answer my question below? Its just something that would help me understand the situation better.
There are 3-4 lines of trucks all packed together closely. You cannot switch lanes to get out of the sequence.
There is no break in the divider. Once you are stuck, you have to be in the same lane till you cross the bridge - and you may be in a Q 4-5 kms long.

And please remember - for a car in the Q, he would have no idea what the problem was up ahead (after all, all motorists are not members of team-bhp.com) and they would not know alternative routes through Ankleshwar-Bharuch towns or whatever. IN such instances, it is also customary for cops themselves to open up the "wrong" right side of the road so that smaller vehicles can get away.

None of the vehicles going on the "wrong" right side of the road are blocking the path of the oncoming vehicles, they stick to the extreme right till they reach the bridge. Incidentally, there are sometimes cops stationed at the bridge and they do not stop/ warn the so-called "wrong-side" vehicles. Please do not tag these vehicles with the "wrong side" vehicles that you normally encounter on 4-laned roads nowadays (the latter are doing it because they do not want to go all the way to a divider which may be far off, since there is no break where they want to take a turn off)

Last edited by hvkumar : 2nd November 2011 at 11:45.
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Old 2nd November 2011, 12:04   #19
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

In Mumbai also the cops themselves open a single lane "on the other" side of the road when the traffic is too heavy and the road is getting jammed. The same thing happens on the Narmada bridge also.

I think its perfectly fine till the vehicles are in a single file and not trying to over take each other on "the other side"
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Old 2nd November 2011, 12:12   #20
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Hi WomanOnWheels,

Would request you to please complete your Travelogue. We all are waiting for your drive from Mumbai to Patiala.

Cheers!
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Old 2nd November 2011, 12:40   #21
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Quote:
Originally Posted by hvkumar View Post
There are 3-4 lines of trucks all packed together closely. You cannot switch lanes to get out of the sequence.
There is no break in the divider. Once you are stuck, you have to be in the same lane till you cross the bridge - and you may be in a Q 4-5 kms long.

And please remember - for a car in the Q, he would have no idea what the problem was up ahead (after all, all motorists are not members of team-bhp.com) and they would not know alternative routes through Ankleshwar-Bharuch towns or whatever. IN such instances, it is also customary for cops themselves to open up the "wrong" right side of the road so that smaller vehicles can get away.

All that is fine sir, but that still does not answer my question. Your above two points are negated by the fact that:
a) OP had already jumped/crossed the divider, so not able to switch lanes does not come up, and
b) OP had been warned of the traffic pile up on the bridge and suggested an alternate beforehand.

My question is quite simple and repeated again. How impractical would it have been to fall back on the alternate route, once the divider had been crossed?
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Old 2nd November 2011, 12:56   #22
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Hi Woman on Wheels waiting for more updates from you. Don't let the moral high grounders deter you from writing more about your trip. Like no one has ever taken a leak in the open or even been marginally on the wrong side of law. Also regarding traveling with a baby half the world does it and its great fun. Am sure you would have planned adequately for the same.

Do let us know more details about the trip. This is precisely the problem plaguing politics. Even if one MP admits a slight mistake the rest of the world would jump on them and judge them as if they are always perfect.

Waiting for more details from you soon.
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Old 3rd November 2011, 12:00   #23
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Quote:
Originally Posted by amitoj View Post

But, would it have been too impractical to turn around (after "taking" the divider), going back and driving through Bharuch town? You would have been able to replenish the essential supplies in the town as well.
Amitoj,the question is not clear,not sure what you mean by "taking the divider".I assume your intention was to ask if it was possible to go back towards Mumbai side by taking a u-turn at the median break.Which would mean joining the regular direction of the vehicles.

The answer to that is yes & no.And more often than not,the answer is no,because the turn into Bharuch Town would be fully choc-a-bloc as this jam extends quite a distance(approx 5kms on a regular basis as HVK mentions) and it is impossible to cut through the lines of trucks and get into town,at the median breaks.

It is possible if the jam is a small one,else it is practically impossible to turn into the merging road.Even after turning around and coming back to the road towards AMD,one needs to crawl on the extreme left track to be able to take the left into the town.Too messy and plus highway drivers would in no way know which left turn takes you into the town.
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Old 3rd November 2011, 13:02   #24
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Quote:
Originally Posted by ranjitp1 View Post
Amitoj,the question is not clear,not sure what you mean by "taking the divider".I assume your intention was to ask if it was possible to go back towards Mumbai side by taking a u-turn at the median break.Which would mean joining the regular direction of the vehicles.
The phrase is in quotes because it was taken from the very first post in this thread.

You know what? I give up.

Next time i see an auto driving down the wrong way, or a two wheeler riding on the footpath, i will try to convince myself maybe once they were told by a cop to do so, hence they are continuing with it. Maybe they see cars the way we see trucks here. All izz welll
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Old 7th December 2011, 18:26   #25
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Everyone.... thank you so much for taking time to read the travelogue and post your comments. I will refrain from making any comments on the people who expected me to go by the book. I was the single driver who had to drive from Mumbai to Hisar and then Patiala. because of the baby, my hubby and I had decided that we wont drive beyond 9 and hence I did what I could do in the situation.. someone said I should have taken train or flight. Well the trains were full due to diwal and flight prices were rocket high. Also, my baby's doc said the cabin pressure may not be ok for a baby below 3 months.

Update on the trvelogue - I had a very smooth journey from Ahemdabad to Jaiour. beacuse I rested well in Ahemdabad, I barely took any breaks. We stopped whenever baby was hungry or needed a diaper change and I stretched my legs. Luckliy, my baby loves car journey and slept throughout the journey. We had made a very cozy space for him at the backseat by placing mattresses and pillows and secured it with bags and cushions to prevent any mishap because of sudden braking.

Trip from ahemdabad to Jaipur was smooth witout much traffic jams or delays. I went the Byavar Ajmer route. The only thing is that overall rajasthan there is road widening going on and the single lanes get blocked by trucks and big vehicles. As we approached Jaipur, we had some delay due to this but otherwise, I was pretty ok with no fatigue or sleepiness. My husband had friends in Jaipur, and since we decided not to drive beyond 9, we stopped over at their place.

Route from Jaipur to Hisar - I was advised by HVK sir not to take the Gurgaon route so I called up people in Hisar and was advised the below route.

Jaipur - Seekar - Jhunjnu - Churu - Fatehpur - Rajgarh - Hisar.

this route is good except a few kilometers post Rajgarh where there were lot of pot holes. Overall, I enjoyed the drive because it didnt tire me out due to lot of rest and stops in between. My car performed great as it did the last time I did the Mumbai Chandigarh route.
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Old 7th December 2011, 21:38   #26
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Quote:
Originally Posted by womanonwheels View Post
Everyone.... thank you so much for taking time to read the travelogue and post your comments. I will refrain from making any comments on the people who expected me to go by the book. I was the single driver who had to drive from Mumbai to Hisar and then Patiala. because of the baby, my hubby and I had decided that we wont drive beyond 9 and hence I did what I could do in the situation.. someone said I should have taken train or flight. Well the trains were full due to diwal and flight prices were rocket high. Also, my baby's doc said the cabin pressure may not be ok for a baby below 3 months.

Update on the trvelogue - I had a very smooth journey from Ahemdabad to Jaiour. beacuse I rested well in Ahemdabad, I barely took any breaks. We stopped whenever baby was hungry or needed a diaper change and I stretched my legs. Luckliy, my baby loves car journey and slept throughout the journey. We had made a very cozy space for him at the backseat by placing mattresses and pillows and secured it with bags and cushions to prevent any mishap because of sudden braking.

Trip from ahemdabad to Jaipur was smooth witout much traffic jams or delays. I went the Byavar Ajmer route. The only thing is that overall rajasthan there is road widening going on and the single lanes get blocked by trucks and big vehicles. As we approached Jaipur, we had some delay due to this but otherwise, I was pretty ok with no fatigue or sleepiness. My husband had friends in Jaipur, and since we decided not to drive beyond 9, we stopped over at their place.

Route from Jaipur to Hisar - I was advised by HVK sir not to take the Gurgaon route so I called up people in Hisar and was advised the below route.

Jaipur - Seekar - Jhunjnu - Churu - Fatehpur - Rajgarh - Hisar.

this route is good except a few kilometers post Rajgarh where there were lot of pot holes. Overall, I enjoyed the drive because it didnt tire me out due to lot of rest and stops in between. My car performed great as it did the last time I did the Mumbai Chandigarh route.
You shame many of those who fret about taking even 2-5 year old kids on holidays - commendable that you dared take your 3-month old, driving yourself, that too on such a long journey, on such a difficult route. I am sure all of us here join in the applause and admiration for you

Please let us have some tips on driving on long journeys with infants & young children.

How did the rest of your journey go?
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Old 8th December 2011, 12:12   #27
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Route from Jaipur to Hisar - I was advised by HVK sir not to take the Gurgaon route so I called up people in Hisar and was advised the below route.

Jaipur - Seekar - Jhunjnu - Churu - Fatehpur - Rajgarh - Hisar.

this route is good except a few kilometers post Rajgarh where there were lot of pot holes. Overall, I enjoyed the drive because it didnt tire me out due to lot of rest and stops in between. My car performed great as it did the last time I did the Mumbai Chandigarh route.[/quote]

Nice to know that roads via Fathepur-Hisar was good.
I made a mistake last time when I was travelling from Ambala to Bikaner to take
the route from Rajgarh to Shri Dungargarh it was very bad and had to waste a lot of time in those isolated roads.
I would have saved time and stress if I would have travelled by Fathepur.
Hisar-Narwana was average with occasional potholes.
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Old 8th December 2011, 13:38   #28
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

WoW, hats off for pulling off the entire journey (I am afraid that's the end of the travelogue, though I (and many others) would welcome if you were to add to it).

I have driven with a few months old baby in the car, and trust me, I am the most accomodating driver on such occasions. I can imagine the tension you must have undergone throughout the journey.

Any notes on the FE of the car, the average speeds you maintained?
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Old 8th December 2011, 14:11   #29
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Quote:
Originally Posted by womanonwheels View Post
Overall, I enjoyed the drive because it didnt tire me out due to lot of rest and stops in between. My car performed great as it did the last time I did the Mumbai Chandigarh route.
WOW, that was a great drive with a 3 month old baby!!

Please do the justice with your Travelogue by sharing few snaps.

Cheers!
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Old 8th December 2011, 19:50   #30
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Re: Mumbai - Hisar - Patiala in my Swift Dzire

Thank you gentleman :-)

To answer some of the questions, handling a baby wasnt too much of a problem. Since I am the only driver, we knew I will be the one on the wheel and baby will need to be handled by hubby. Although he isnt an expert yet in managing him, but that didnt stop him from doing everything he could. some of the things we did were:-

1. Ensure adequate supply of his milk powder and boiled bottles.Wherever we stopped to eat, we got the bottles cleaned and boiled.

2. Kept tissues and diapers in easy reach in two places so that we didnt need to suddenly stop on highways. We also kept some medicines for the baby incase he feels unwell because of the journey.

3. Carried enough blankets and pillows to make baby comfortable. He was only two months when we began so he was soothed by moving car and slept most of the times. If babies are carried in lap for a very long time or put in a car seat, they are bound to become cranky due to awkward back positioning.

4. As I said, to avoid being stranded with the baby in case of a car breakdown, we planned in a way that we wont be driving beyond 9 in the night.

5. While I was expecting the baby, my car had severe probelm due to water getting inside when in drove once or twice. I had also posted the query on a different forum that I was asked by Paramount Mumbai about 55000 for chaning the fue injectors. I finally got the entire fuel circulation system cleaned, ac serviced and general check up done before the journey from Top gear in Thane for about 12000. So car was nice and smooth in driving. I was carrying extra engine oil and coolant for AC in boot with the luggage.

6. Last time when I did a Mumbai Chandigar in 2009, I took break every one and a half hour. This time, I changed my strategy and took break when baby was awake and was being fed or changed. I also didnt eat anything heavy to stop myself from feeling sleepy.

7. Constatntly stayed aware of road signs and notices to anticipate any route changes. If in doubt, asked guys at toll nakas etc.

8. Above all, on a journey like this, the mindet and attitude matters the most. We were well prepared for unexpected breaks and didnt try to finish it like a race. I had done Mumbai chandigarh in much lesser time, but I knew with the baby, that cant happen. So I didnt get hassled with that and left one day in advance to reach on time for Diwali. Also I was thinking due to festival season there could be lot of traffic but that wasnt the case.

Car FE was roughly above 20 most of the times with AC on 85% of the times. We were so occupied with the baby that we stopped keeping track of fuels and tolls after one point :-) I even had a new Sony fully HD camera that couldnt come out of the case because dealing with baby was more important.

I picked up my Mom from Hisar and left for Patiala the next day. This drive is obviously much shorter compared to what I had done in last two days. Post Deewali, I have driven about another 500 kms in Rajasthan visitng Salasar temple and another 500 -700 in Punjab, visiting many relatives in Ludhiana, Khanna, Chandigarh etc....

I started from Mira road, mumbai on Odo reading of 31854. As of now it reads 35682.
I have pics for the salasar trip that I will share. Can someone guide me on how to change image size before posting pics on this thread.

Someone said it was the end of the travelogue. well, that may not be the case.... I am looking for a change in career/job post the baby and due to my last minute decision to come back to Mumbai to wind up things, I took a train as husband had come back to Mumbai long time ago and I spent a month and a half in Hisar and Patiala. Dont know what future holds for me at this point. If I do decide to stay in Mumbai for some time, another Mumbai patiala drive may be on the cards to bring the car back.. If not, then I am definitley visiting a few places like Mathura, amritsar, haridwar and vaishno devi with the baby when I go back to Punjab. Being a north indian, I am not sure If I want to live in Mumbai now that I have a baby and entire family is in Punjab.
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